Harrisville concert series begins Wednesday

July 5, 2013

HARRISVILLE - The City of Harrisville launches its 26th annual Harbor Nights summer concert series with a performance by the Hobo Dinner County Band on Wednesday at the pavilion overlooking Lake Huron.

Organizers recommend concert-goers bring a chair or a blanket. Refreshments will be offered by the Harrisville Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary.

Although volunteers handle all of the details, and the event is sponsored by several local businesses, the hat will be passed for donations.

On Wednesday, pianist Dale Dellar will jam with eight other musicians as they perform classic country songs influenced by bluegrass. Other performers are Gary Fountain, a rhythm guitarist from Howard City; Dan and Dee Miklusicak from Dorr playing bass and rhythm guitar; Marvin Johnson on banjo, singer Jim Westbrook on violin and guitar; Wayne LaPratt of Caro on guitar, and Roy McFarlane of Cheboygan on banjo, mandolin and fiddle.

Joe Freeman and Sal Agnello of the Pool Boys will appear July 17. Freeman is a classically trained singer who studied voice in Denver. He's also a songwriter and plays a variety of musical instruments.

Agnello has been playing music for three decades, and is an original member of the group.

Other concerts in the summer series are:

July 24: Blue Water Ramblers, with Banjo-Jim Foerch and R.H. Bear Berends. Foerch picked up the banjo in 1965 and was a founding member of a regional touring band, Beats Settin' Home. Berends joined Foerch in 1993.

July 31: Whispers of the North, The Gordon Lightfoot Tribute. Lead guitarist Todd Golnick, Jack Boyd on bass, George Krawczyk on keyboards and Matt Wohlfeill on drums conjure up the sounds of Up North, including the haunting ballad, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Aug. 7: Donny Hartman Band will perform rock and roll, the blues and soul music. As front man, Hartman has had an extensive rock and roll career in Michigan and was one of the founding members of The Frost, a popular group in the 1960s and 1970s. He is a member of the Detroit Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and is known for powerful vocals and guitar work.